DepEd schools division official tested positive to COVID-19

The Department of Education has been informed that one of its officials in the division of Mandaluyong City has been tested positive to COVID-19 on March 25, 2020. The department, however, made sure that the patient is now isolated and recovering in a hospital and was provided the necessary assistance, especially in his hospitalization.

Contact tracing is now being done to anyone who may have been in close contact with him prior to his hospitalization and were advised for a home quarantine as a precautionary measure. The good thing is, his close colleagues are showing no symptoms but are still under monitoring.

 Below is the official statement of the DepEd regarding this matter:

Official statement on a DepEd schools division official who tested positive to COVID-19

PASIG CITY, March 26, 2020 – We have been informed that a Department of Education schools division official in Mandaluyong City has tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, March 25. The patient is confined at a hospital and is recovering. Our field units have provided assistance for his hospitalization.

Within the DepEd community, we have checked on his colleagues with whom he had close contact prior to hospitalization. None of them has exhibited respiratory symptoms so far.

As he visited some competition events at the NFOT, we also checked on updates of our precautionary home quarantine of NFOT and NSPC delegates. We are nearing the tail-end of the precautionary home quarantine, and overall we have monitored a small number of participants that were classified as PUIs but there is no link that can be established to the patient from Mandaluyong. We remain hopeful that we will be able to clear the precautionary period without any further incident, in light of the heightened measures we adopted for the NSPC and NFOT.

We have coordinated with the DOH and no less than the Secretary of Health has instructed his staff to do an extensive contact tracing as it is still an imperative for an effective containment. The DOH will oversee the contact tracing and notification within and outside DepEd following their protocols.

We fully understand the seriousness of the situation, and our Department is taking the necessary steps for the safety of our learners, teachers, and the public.

The health and well-being of our teachers and learners being our highest priority, we will monitor the case closely and follow up on any further developments that may arise.

Source: Department of Education